HISTORY

The company was founded in 1946 as Freeport Blacktop Construction Company and originally paved city and county roads with seal coat. Between 1950 and the late 1960s, the company began performing asphalt paving, underground utilities, and structural concrete work. As the company developed more expertise in the heavy civil market, they changed their name to Civil Constructors. The company became a major builder of highway structures in the Midwest and also constructed large municipal treatment plants.

Mechanical Inc. was formed in 1969 to handle the growing piping specialty trade work that was developing around the nuclear power plants and treatments that Civil Constructors was building. Mechanical became a major pipe fabricator and constructor in the region and started shipping fabricated pipe throughout the U.S.

The name of the parent company was changed to Helm Group with Civil and Mechanical operating as separate companies under the Helm Group. In the 1980s, Conmat was created to manage Civil’s aggregate production operations. Industrial Solutions was also established to provide industrial, mechanical, and environmental design services to the operating companies and outside customers. Finally, Heavy Equipment Services was started to oversee the maintenance and purchasing needs of the Helm Group’s heavy equipment fleet.

The period of 1990 through 2010 was a period of tremendous growth for the Helm Group. Civil Constructors became the premier heavy highway contractor in Northwestern Illinois and Eastern Iowa. Through a series of corporate acquisitions and large projects, Mechanical became one of the largest plumbing and HVAC contractors in the Midwest, with Chicago and Milwaukee as their primary markets.

Today, the Helm Group companies continue to expand their reach into select construction markets. Civil, Conmat, Heavy, Industrial, and Mechanical all have outstanding employees that are sought out by their customers to provide a level of service that is unmatched in the region.